Ghanaian and American military medical professionals hosted a closing ceremony on the last day of Medical Readiness Training Exercise 17-2 at the 37th Military Hospital in Accra, Ghana, Feb. 24, to highlight the strengthened partnerships and lessons learned.
During the ceremony, leadership of the Hospital and the U.S. Army provided remarks followed by a gift exchange.
The 21-day collaborative learning experience was a mutually beneficial exercise that brought together Ghanaian and U.S. military organizations to foster cooperation while conducting medical tasks.
“This has been a tremendous opportunity for our Soldiers, both active duty and National Guard, to increase their skills while in a different clinical environment working side-by-side with you in the operating rooms, emergency rooms and dental clinics,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Johnson, commanding general for Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, in his speech at the event.
MEDRETE 17-2 was a combined effort between the Ghanaian government, U.S. Army Africa, the North Dakota National Guard, and Brooke Army Medical Center. Through the course of the MEDRETE, the combined team spent more than 72 hours conducting 86 surgeries, seeing 337 emergency and clinical patients, while sharing lessons learned.
“Working together, we have strengthened our partnership and shared best practices for assessments and treatments while providing valuable medical services to the local public.” Johnson said. “We learned a great deal along the way from you and for this we are grateful.”
This is the second in a series of medical readiness training exercises that U.S. Army Africa is expected to facilitate within a variety of countries on the African continent, providing an opportunity for the partnered militaries to train shoulder to shoulder in an alternatively resourced environment.
